Weekend Engine Restoration

Some paint, elbow grease, and a few new parts can make a huge difference

Let's face it, having a rusty, grease-covered engine is pretty embarrassing for a true car guy. No matter what the exterior looks like, we all want those oohs and ahhs when we pop the hood. While stripping an engine down to bare bones and installing a ton of new parts will make it look nice, sometimes a little weekend work can get you most of the wow factor with a lot less work.

We wanted to do a quick resto on a small-block that would only take a weekend to complete and didn't require cracking any major seals. That meant the intake and timing-chain cover needed to stay on. We did want a little new-parts flash, so new valve covers and air cleaner were ordered up. The rest would be done with good old-fashioned elbow grease and some Rust-Oleum. This story will show the procedure to do an in-the-car resto of an engine to improve the looks with as little work as possible. Some of the tips and procedures in this story can be applied to other areas of the car, so even if your motor is already clean there might be something in here for ya.

Parts & Prices

Valve covers, PN 141-921, $219.95

Aluminum mini nuts, PN 66650, $20.50

Air cleaner, PN 141-692, $73.95

Rust-Oleum Engine Enamel Semi-Gloss, PN 248936, $11.38 for two cans

Rust-Oleum Engine Enamel Cast Coat Iron, PN 248955, $5.69

Alternator and belts from parts store, $69.93

Sources

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Weekend Engine Restoration

1 Here are the parts and sundries that are going to be used to freshen up the engine’s looks and make it presentable. On the parts side we picked up an air cleaner assembly, chrome hold-down nuts (not shown), and a set of Slant-Edge valve covers from Proform Parts. These parts set us back just over 300 bucks, and the style points alone were worth that. The other key component of the freshen-up is the Rust-Oleum Engine Enamel. We picked up two cans of the satin black and a can of the Cast Coat Iron. This Stops Rust–formula spray paint will resist the engine’s heat up to 500 degrees F, is gas- and oil-resistant, and the can sprays at any angle, making it perfect for this task.

2 Speaking of the task, here is the engine that will receive the resto. The car had been sitting dormant for 27 years before we got our hands on it. A few things have already been tweaked just to get the car running: We installed a new Proform HEI distributor, plugs and wires, and radiator and hoses. We did this just to see if the motor was worth leaving in the hole, and luckily for us it runs like a top so we could take the next step and detail it up.

3 We tore the engine down to the long block so we could paint it. Here is a tip: Use a piece of cardboard and a pen to keep track of all the hardware and their respective locations.

4 Before we could put a drop of paint on the engine we needed to remove all the grease, gunk, and loose paint. We used an over-the-counter degreaser to attack the crud. We left the balancer on at this point so nothing could get into the oil pan. We’ll take it off after the scrubbing is complete.

5 It’s nice to have a selection of brushes to scrub the motor with. We have nylon, steel, and brass bristle brushes and ended up using the steel for this task.

6 After scrubbing and rinsing off the engine, the balancer was removed so we could scuff the chrome timing-chain cover with the Scotch-Brite pad. This will give the paint a better surface on which to adhere.

7 We know the best way to restore an intake is to remove it and blast it in a cabinet, but we didn’t want to crack the seal on the intake or pull the distributor. So, we decided to paint it but not before we scrubbed it clean.

8 Then we used a rag to wipe off all the slurry. Stuff is going to accumulate on the side of the intake along the head, and a plastic interior tool wrapped in a rag made getting it out much easier.

9 Since we are going to use the gray on the intake and black on the block, we had to decide which to spray first. After a trial run masking off the block and the intake we found it much easier to mask off the intake, so it will be painted first. Aluminum foil is going to be your best friend with a job like this as it can be used to quickly mask off all sorts of oddly shaped pieces. Lay it on the piece and squish it down around the part to be masked. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

10 Following the directions on the can, we sprayed the intake and the timing chain cover. The paint comes out nice and even, and the any-angle spray tip made shooting around the distributor much easier since we could hold the can sideways. If you are going to apply tape it’s best to let the paint dry overnight, so we loaded up all the pulleys and brackets and took a trip to a friend’s shop to borrow his blast cabinet before calling it a night.

11 The next morning we hung all the freshly blasted parts, wiped them down with some of the pre-cleaner, and painted them black. This will allow those to dry while we deal with the block so they can be handled later in the day when it’s time for reassembly.

12 We went around the edge of the intake with the 3/4-inch tape first since it’s a bit easier to manage. Then we went back around with a layer of 2-inch, which will set it up for the next step—more foil.

13 The foil will push down over the intake and allow us to fold the 2-inch tape down over it, sealing up the intake from overspray. For the areas that we just couldn’t get under the tape, we just came back over with a few more strips.

14 The block is now black. Don’t worry about getting a little overspray on the headers, those get hot enough to burn off this paint fairly quickly so they will be back to their rusted glory in no time.

15 After about an hour, we de-masked the intake. Be gentle when pulling the tape and try to pull the tape back over itself while removing it to product a nice crisp line.

16 Now it’s time for some new parts. We used some chrome nuts from Proform to hold down the valve covers. These covers have almost become the staple of performance small-blocks and we can see why. They have killer style with the big, bold script, and the thick sealing flange should keep us leak-free.

17 We also re-installed the distributor cap on the Proform HEI. The red cap will tie into another red element later on.

18 The other stuff we painted earlier is dry to the touch, so it can be put back on. We used a puller/installing tool we got from Proform (PN 66514, $75) to install the balancer.

19 We continued to reinstall all the freshly painted parts till we got to the alternator. The day was almost done and we really didn’t have time to break down the alternator to paint the housing. We decided to take a trip to the local parts store and pick up a new one for just over 50 bucks. We got very lucky that this new unit already had a black pulley and fan so we didn’t even need to paint that. We also picked up a few new bolts to replace the dingy ones that can be seen like the ones on the alternator bracket.

20 Our shroud was in great shape and just needed a good scrubbing with degreaser. If you are going to paint your shroud, make sure to get a paint made for plastic for the best results.

21 After slipping the shroud over the motor, we loosely installed the fan then installed the shroud properly. Then we tightened up the new belts.

22 Once we had the new belt tight, it kept the pulley from spinning, making tightening of the fan a bit easier. What we didn’t show in the pictures was cleaning and painting the power steering pump, which we did without removing it from the car.

23 We also picked up some new hose clamps from the parts store. Lots of little details like new hose clamps and bolts will combine to make a clean big picture.

24 To cap off the job, we installed the Super-Light 14-inch air cleaner assembly. It comes with everything needed down to the carb stud and wing nut. This one has a drop center base that positions it down of the carb and keeps it from hitting the hood when shut. It has a cool red Bow Tie on the top that will key in on the red distributor cap for a little continuity.

25 Saturday morning, we started with a dirty old clunker and by Sunday we turned it into a respectable-looking powerplant. At first glance it even looks like we swapped in a new motor. This was a great weekend project, and now we can open the hood at cruise night without feeling embarrassed.

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